Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own idea, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into the work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.

The necessity to acknowledge others’ work or ideas applies not only to text, but also to other media, such as computer code, illustrations, graphs etc. It applies equally to published text and data drawn from books and journals, and to unpublished text and data. Text, data, or other resources downloaded from websites must also be attributed.

The best way of avoiding plagiarism is to learn and employ the principles of good academic practice from the beginning of the career. Avoiding plagiarism is not simply a matter of making sure the references are all correct, or changing enough words copied from a source but it is about deploying academic skills to make the work as good as it can be.

Knowing where and how information is collected and used, developing better writing skills and understanding the rules of good academic practice, such as using a consistent referencing style, will all reduce unintentional plagiarism.

It is hugely important and necessary to read, consult, and discuss any upcoming work of other researchers, scientists, engineers and medical practitioners in the same subject field. Therefore, it is integral to the research process, and research communication, that this collection is acknowledged and recognized by all researchers in a particular subject field. The concept of academic integrity is built upon the act of recognizing the ideas and work that have already been produced and of any subsequent work.

To develop a good understanding of a subject, and to be able to critically analyze and apply ideas and concepts to one’s own work, one has to actively engage with research that contributes to the subject knowledge. Copying is a passive activity and hence comprehending research cannot be passive especially when trying to make sense of complex ideas. If researchers can express in their own words how a process works, why an experiment produced a certain set of results, how a researcher developed his or her theory that will have a greater and deeper understanding than just copying someone else's words.

Students plagiarise deliberately. However, they can often plagiarise accidentally because they have poor academic skills or are not familiar with the rules of academic writing practice. This includes time management, understanding the research question, reading and note taking, writing skills, as well as an understanding of plagiarism and the rules of citation. Providing help with writing and academic skills can be hugely beneficial in reducing accidental plagiarism.

There are different types of plagiarism based on the source and nature of content being plagiarized.

Word for word copying without clear acknowledgement

Unauthorized collaboration between researchers and failure to attribute assistance received

Copy and paste can be intentional or non – intentional

Paraphrasing or Word switch

Misinterpreting common knowledge and established facts and data

Self plagiarism

At K.L.N. College of Engineering, quality research is ensured by avoiding plagiarism through the URKUND provided plagiarism software. URKUND offers a fully-automated system for handling plagiarism. URKUND system provides a login based plagiarism checker to all recognized supervisors under Anna University, Chennai. Students can send their documents to their supervisor by e-mail. Along the electronic route between student and supervisor, the documents are checked against three central source areas: Internet, published material and student material. If any document displays similarities with the content in the three sources, the system will flag it for possible plagiarism. An analysis overview is generated and sent by e-mail to the supervisor concerned. The analysis overview presents in a simplified form the information needed by the supervisor in order to determine if plagiarism has occurred. URKUND does not require any software installation, no use of complex interfaces and no login to any website; neither for the student nor the teachers. It is a very easy to use system with a detailed analysis report generator. The URKUND supervisor login can be accessed athttps://www.urkund.com/login